Hoekstra: ‘Support to Ukraine must continue, they determine when the war ends’
The Netherlands must continue to support Ukraine. ultimately it is up to Ukraine itself to determine when the war will end. That is what Wopke Hoekstra, Minister of Foreign Affairs, says in conversation with news hour† He mentions that the war will last a long time and that the Netherlands will also do this.
CDA leader Wopke Hoekstra has been Minister of Foreign Affairs for five months. Since the start of the war, the Netherlands has been supplying Ukraine with weapons to defend itself against Russian attacks. The Netherlands now also supplies fast weapons. According to Hoekstra, it is important that North America, Europe and therefore also the Netherlands continue to supply these weapons, start importing them and help with reconstruction.
“You have to get on with it,” says Hoekstra. “This new phase also calls for different types of weapons. You should not have the illusion that the whole country was started by Russia. Then it would never have ended with Kiev as it has now.”
According to Hoekstra, it is impossible to say when the war will end. It is they who suffer the most terrible losses. They fight primarily for their peace and security. But that also means peace and stability for the whole of Europe. It is essential that we continue. Not only morally, but also geopolitically.”
cold reality
According to Hoekstra, the purpose of the American weapons is that Ukraine is as capable as possible of attacking its own territory. “That’s important. The cold reality is that they give that power on the battlefield, and with it the best position at the negotiating table.”
The fear of escalating the war cannot be brushed aside, Hoekstra says: But it is not for nothing that NATO allows individual countries to think that it is going to be a bigger conflict, a bigger war. to supply weapons, to contribute heavily, but not to guard the airspace.
Ukraine’s EU membership remains a point of discussion for the Netherlands. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expects the candidate membership to be awarded later this month at the European summit in Brussels. But so far, the Netherlands has put the brakes on.
Hoekstra says that the government will look with an open mind to the judgment of the European Commission. “It is up to the European Commission to make a sensible judgment about what needs to be done. Then you must be prepared to look at it openly as the Netherlands.”
Corruption in Ukraine in particular is a thorny issue for the Netherlands and Germany. Yesterday a Ukrainian delegation visited the House of Representatives to lobby for candidate membership. Delay would not only be bad for Ukraine, but also for the EU, they argue.
Ukraine lobbies for EU membership
Hoekstra said that the war could go on for a long time. You should not be real that we have not only gotten into a much longer conflict, a conflict of values, with Russia, but also that that war could last. And that this will also hurt. In the Netherlands too.”
According to him, it is up to the cabinet to ensure that the consequences of the war remain bearable for its own population. It is an illusion to think that we will be rid of that in a few weeks of a few months. †